Method and device for controlling subordinate electronic device or supporting control of subordinate electronic device by learning IR signal

Abstract

A method for controlling a subordinate electronic device by learning an IR signal is provided. An electronic control device acquires control signal induction information corresponding to an identifier of the specific IR signal upon acquiring a specific IR signal. Alternatively, the electronic control device may support an electronic control device of another space such that the electronic control device acquires the control signal induction information corresponding to the identifier of the specific IR signal. The electronic control device generates a specific IR signal by using the acquired control signal induction information, if a user of a predetermined space or another space intends to control a specific subordinate electronic device. The database acquires a plurality of IR signals in a first space to an n-th space, sorts IR signals not overlapping among the plurality of IR signals, and manages the control signal induction information corresponding to each IR signal not overlapping.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of a control device controlling or supporting another control device to control a slave electronic device by learning multiple IR signals, comprising steps of:
 (a) the control device in a predetermined space, if at least one particular IR signal is obtained for controlling a specific slave electronic device within the predetermined space, acquiring particular reference triggering information corresponding to an identifier of the particular IR signal by referring to a database or supporting said another control device in another space other than the predetermined space to acquire the particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal; and 
 (b) the control device in the predetermined space, in case that a user of the predetermined space or a user of said another space intends to control the specific slave electronic device or one or more similar devices, generating or supporting said another control device in said another space to generate the particular IR signal by using the particular reference triggering information, 
 wherein the multiple IR signals are acquired within a 1-st space to an n-th space, where the 1-st space to the n-th space include at least part of the predetermined space and said another space, 
 wherein one or more device-specific IR signals are identified and selected among the multiple IR signals, and 
 wherein the database manages each piece of the reference triggering information which corresponds to the respective device-specific IR signals. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, at the step of (b), if the user of said another space generates current triggering information to control the specific slave electronic device in said another space, the control device in said another space generates or supports another device to generate the particular IR signal corresponding to the current triggering information. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, at the step of (a), the control device in the predetermined space searches the particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal by referring to a local database of the predetermined space, and wherein, if there is no particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal in the local database of the predetermined space, the control device in the predetermined space searches the particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal by referring to the database. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein, at the step of (a), the database is a cloud database, and wherein the control device in the predetermined space acquires current triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal as a result of analyzing information on IoT device's operation or information on user interaction in the predetermined space in case there is no particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal in the cloud database. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, at the step of (a), in case there is no particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal in the database, the control device acquires current triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal as a result of analyzing the information on IoT device's operation or the information on user interaction in the predetermined space, and then the control device records mapping information between the acquired current triggering information and the identifier of the particular IR signal in the database, resulting in updating the database. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein, if the database is updated, a server for managing the database provides the mapping information between the current triggering information and the identifier of the particular IR signal to said another control device in at least part of the 1-st space to the n-th space. 
     
     
       7. A method of a control device controlling or supporting another control device to control a slave electronic device by learning multiple IR signals, comprising steps of:
 (a) the control device in a predetermined space obtaining current triggering information for controlling a specific slave electronic device; and 
 (b) the control device obtaining or support said another control device to obtain an identifier of a particular IR signal corresponding to the current triggering information by referring to a database and generating or support said another control device to generate the particular IR signal corresponding to the current triggering information, 
 wherein the multiple IR signals are acquired within a 1-st space to an n-th space, where the 1-st space to the n-th space includes at least the predetermined space, 
 wherein one or more device-specific IR signals are identified and selected among the multiple IR signals, and 
 wherein the database manages each piece of reference triggering information which corresponds to the respective device-specific IR signals. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein, at the step of (b), if there is no identifier of the particular IR signal corresponding to the current triggering information in the database, the control device obtains a specific identifier of a specific IR signal corresponding to specific reference triggering information having the highest degree of similarity with the current triggering information among all identifiers of IR signals saved in the database, wherein the specific IR signal is included in the multiple IR signals. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the control device further stores mapping information among (i) the current triggering information, (ii) the specific identifier of the specific IR signal corresponding to the specific reference triggering information having the highest degree of similarity with the current triggering information, and (iii) the specific IR signal corresponding to the specific identifier in the database. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8 , wherein, on condition that the current triggering information and the specific reference triggering information are respectively divided into a predetermined number of pieces of data, a degree of similarity is calculated as a ratio of (i) the number of intersections of the divided data of the current triggering information and that of the specific reference triggering information to (ii) the number of unions of the divided data of the current triggering information and that of the specific reference triggering information. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising a step of:
 (c) the control device, in case feedback information inputted by a user in response to the particular IR signal is negative, adjusting an accuracy of the mapping information among the particular IR signal, the identifier of the particular IR signal, and its corresponding reference triggering information stored in the database at least for the control device in the predetermined space. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control device generates or supports said another control device to generate the particular IR signal by referring to pattern information acquired based on records of controlling the specific slave electronic device in the predetermined space according to at least one of the multiple IR signals. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the pattern information includes information on time of generation of IR signals for controlling the specific slave electronic device. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the control device generates or supports said another control device to generate the particular IR signal by analyzing voice data included in the current triggering information and thereby further taking into account recognized speaker information. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the current triggering information is remotely provided to the control device via a mobile terminal. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control device determines a location of the specific slave electronic device in the predetermined space by referring to the current triggering information, and then generates or supports said another control device to generate the particular IR signal by a certain angle determined according to the determined location. 
     
     
       17. A control device in a predetermined space for controlling or supporting another control device to control a slave electronic device by learning multiple IR signals, comprising:
 a triggering information acquiring unit, if at least one particular IR signal is obtained for controlling a specific slave electronic device within the predetermined space, for acquiring particular reference triggering information corresponding to an identifier of the particular IR signal by referring to a database or for supporting said another control device in another space other than the predetermined space to acquire the particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal; and 
 an IR signal generating unit, in case that a user of the predetermined space or a user of said another space intends to control the specific slave electronic device or one or more similar devices, for generating or supporting said another control device in said another space to generate the particular IR signal by using the particular reference triggering information, 
 wherein the multiple IR signals are acquired within a 1-st space to an n-th space, where the 1-st space to the n-th space include at least part of the predetermined space and said another space, 
 wherein one or more device-specific IR signals are identified and selected among the multiple IR signals, and 
 wherein the database manages each piece of the reference triggering information which corresponds to the respective device-specific IR signals. 
 
     
     
       18. The control device of  claim 17 , wherein the triggering information acquiring unit searches the particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal by referring to a local database of the predetermined space, and wherein, if there is no particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal in the local database of the predetermined space, the triggering information acquiring unit searches the particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal by referring to the database. 
     
     
       19. The control device of  claim 18 , wherein the database is a cloud database, and wherein the triggering information acquiring unit acquires current triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal as a result of analyzing information on IoT device's operation or information on user interaction in the predetermined space in case there is no particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal in the cloud database. 
     
     
       20. The control device of  claim 17 , further comprising an IR signal learning unit and wherein, in case there is no particular reference triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal in the database, the triggering information acquiring unit acquires current triggering information corresponding to the identifier of the particular IR signal as a result of analyzing the information on IoT device's operation or the information on user interaction in the predetermined space, and then the IR signal learning unit records mapping information between the acquired current triggering information and the identifier of the particular IR signal in the database, resulting in updating the database. 
     
     
       21. The control device of  claim 20 , wherein, if the database is updated, a server for managing the database provides the mapping information between the current triggering information and the identifier of the particular IR signal to said another control device in at least part of the 1-st space to the n-th space. 
     
     
       22. A control device in a predetermined space for controlling or supporting another control device to control a slave electronic device by learning multiple IR signals, comprising:
 a triggering information acquiring unit for obtaining current triggering information capable of controlling a specific slave electronic device; and 
 an IR signal generating unit for obtaining or support said another control device to obtain an identifier of a particular IR signal corresponding to the current triggering information by referring to a database and generating or support said another control device to generate the particular IR signal corresponding to the current triggering information, 
 wherein the multiple IR signals are acquired within a 1-st space to an n-th space, where the 1-st space to the n-th space includes at least the predetermined space, 
 wherein one or more device-specific IR signals are identified and selected among the multiple IR signals, and 
 wherein the database manages each piece of reference triggering information which corresponds to the respective device-specific IR signals. 
 
     
     
       23. The control device of  claim 22 , wherein, if there is no identifier of the particular IR signal corresponding to the current triggering information in the database, the IR signal generating unit obtains a specific identifier of a specific IR signal corresponding to specific reference triggering information having the highest degree of similarity with the current triggering information among all identifiers of IR signals saved in the database, wherein the specific IR signal is included in the multiple IR signals. 
     
     
       24. The control device of  claim 23 , further comprising: a triggering information learning unit for further storing mapping information among (i) the current triggering information, (ii) the specific identifier of the specific IR signal corresponding to the specific reference triggering information having the highest degree of similarity with the current triggering information, and (iii) the specific IR signal corresponding to the specific identifier in the database. 
     
     
       25. The control device of  claim 23 , wherein, on condition that the current triggering information and the specific reference triggering information are respectively divided into a predetermined number of pieces of data, a degree of similarity is calculated as a ratio of (i) the number of intersections of the divided data of the current triggering information and that of the specific reference triggering information to (ii) the number of unions of the divided data of the current triggering information and that of the specific reference triggering information. 
     
     
       26. The control device of  claim 22 , further comprising:
 a mapping information adjusting unit, in case feedback information inputted by a user in response to the particular IR signal is negative, for adjusting an accuracy of the mapping information among the particular IR signal, the identifier of the particular IR signal, and its corresponding reference triggering information stored in the database at least for the control device in the predetermined space. 
 
     
     
       27. The control device of  claim 22 , wherein the IR signal generating unit generates or supports said another control device to generate the particular IR signal by referring to pattern information acquired based on records of controlling the specific slave electronic device in the predetermined space according to at least one of the multiple IR signals. 
     
     
       28. The control device of  claim 27 , wherein the pattern information includes information on time of generation of IR signals for controlling the specific slave electronic device. 
     
     
       29. The control device of  claim 27 , wherein the IR signal generating unit generates or supports said another control device to generate the particular IR signal by analyzing voice data included in the current triggering information and thereby further taking into account recognized speaker information. 
     
     
       30. The control device of  claim 22 , wherein the IR signal generating unit determines a location of the specific slave electronic device in the predetermined space by referring to the current triggering information, and then generates or supports said another control device to generate the particular IR signal by a certain angle determined according to the determined location.